‘Ritz’ Creation Wins Ice Cream Contest

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Chocolate-covered Ritz crackers, gooey caramel and vanilla ice cream – it doesn’t get much better than that, judges decided at an ice cream contest.

Judges said Jacksonville resident Tasha Callister’s entry, Puttin on the Ritz, tasted great and had a clever name. The flavor got top prize in the national Ben and Jerry’s Do Us a Flavor Contest in Waterbury, Vt. on Thursday.

But the combo initially had people thinking it was a bit gross, Callister said.

“People were asking me if I was pregnant. They said it sounded like something a pregnant lady would put together,” she told The Florida Times-Union.

Callister actually got the recipe from her grandmother, who would melt caramel over a camp fire and squish it between two crackers before covering it with chocolate.

Ben & Jerry’s summer-long Internet contest drew more than 40,000 entries, company spokesman Sean Greenwood said.

Callister, a Navy meteorologist, and the other four national finalists won ice cream for a year, in addition to the trip to Vermont. She also won an ice cream party for her family and friends. Ben & Jerry’s will create enough Puttin on the Ritz for the party, but there are no plans to put the new flavor in production, Greenwood said.